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Infante focuses on hitting line drives, seeing results

Infante focuses on hitting line drives, seeing results

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Infante's two-run shot 0:53

8/31/13: Omar Infante cracks his second home run of the ballgame, a two-run shot off Michael Brantley in left field in the sixth inning

By Jason Beck
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MLB.com |

BOSTON -- Omar Infante said after his two-homer game Saturday that he has been working on getting his hands over the ball and hitting line drives since coming back from the disabled list. The results in the three weeks since his return have given the Tigers another dangerous hitter.

Infante followed up Saturday's heroics with a quieter two-hit performance Sunday, including a ninth-inning double for one of Detroit's few extra-base hits on the afternoon. In the process, he improved to 27-for-75 (.360) with 11 RBIs and an .862 OPS since his return from the DL. Take away the 0-for-4 game he had in his first game back, and he's batting .380 over an 18-game stretch.

He's striking the balance manager Jim Leyland wants to see from his middle infielders: hitting the ball with authority but not getting fly-ball happy.

"Omar Infante's not a power hitter, but as you've seen, he's capable of hitting home runs," Leyland said. "If he gets the right pitch, he gets on top of it and he hits some of them out. But he's not a home run hitter. ...

"Omar's a very talented hitter. He's a knowledgeable player. He doesn't say much, doesn't talk much, but he's a very knowledgeable player."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.